Guitar

The guitar is a stringed musical instrument. It is generally played with the fingers of the left hand{{ref|rhlh}}. The right hand plucks the strings with either the fingers or a plectrum, (guitar pick). The sound is produced by vibrating strings, which in turn resonate the body and neck.

Strings and tuning

Strings

Guitars have frets on the fingerboard to fix the positions of notes and scales, which gives them equal temperament. Consequently, the ratio of the widths of two consecutive frets is the twelfth root of two sqrt{2}, whose numeric value is about 1.059463. The twelfth fret divides the string in two exact halves and the 24th fret (if present) divides the string in half yet again. Every twelve frets represents one octave.

Related Topics:
Fret - Fingerboard - Scales - Equal temperament - Ratio - Twelfth root of two

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Guitars usually have six strings, although there are variations on this, the most common being a twelve-string guitar; the seven string guitar; the ukulele, which has four strings; and the bass guitar, which usually has four strings but also exists in five, six, eight, and twelve-string versions. There are also more exotic models involving multiple necks and pickups. The vihuela, a guitar variation which emerged in 16th century Spain, has six double strings made of gut.

Related Topics:
Twelve-string guitar - Seven string guitar - Ukulele - Bass guitar - Vihuela - 16th century

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The weight of a string is determined by its diameter and is normally measured in thousandths of an inch. The larger the diameter the heavier the string is (with thinner strings being lighter). Heavier strings require more tension for the same pitch and are consequently harder to hold on to the fretboard. Heavier strings will also produce a louder note and for this reason steel-strung acoustic guitars will normally be strung heavier than electric guitars. On electric guitars, heavier strings may also produce a thicker tone, leading to their use by rhythm guitarists in rock music.

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Tuning

A variety of different tunings are used. The most common by far, known as "standard tuning" (EADGBE), is as follows:

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• sixth (lowest) string: E (a minor thirteenth below middle C—82.4Hz)
• fifth string: A (a minor tenth below middle C—110Hz)
• fourth string: D (a minor seventh below middle C—146.8Hz)
• third string: G (a perfect fourth below middle C—196.0Hz)
• second string: B (a minor second below middle C—246.92Hz)
• first (highest) string: E (a major third above middle C—329.6Hz)

Standard tuning has evolved to provide a good compromise of both simple fingering for many chords, and the ability to play common scales with minimal left hand movement. Additionally, the separation of all adjacent string pairs except one (G-B) by the same interval, a perfect fourth (equivalent to 5 frets' distance), yields a symmetry and intelligibility to fingering patterns in this tuning. The major third (four frets' distance) between the g and b strings, though undermining this clarity, facilitates the playing of many chords and scales as mentioned above and, more generally, provides some diversity in fingering

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possibilities; many figures which are difficult to play on strings tuned a fourth apart are easy to play on strings tuned a third apart and vice versa.

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Some common alternate tunings:

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• E-A-d-f#-b-e which provides the same intervals as for a renaissance lute and so you can play with your guitar directly from tablature.
• D-G-d-g-b-d, open g tuning commonly used for blues or slide guitar
• Open D tuning D-A-d-f#-a-d, commonly used in blues and folk
• E-B-e-g#-b-e, open e tuning one step up from open D
• C-G-c-g-c'-e', open c tuning commonly used in country blues and by modern acoustic fingerstylists
• D-A-d-g-b-e', the drop d tuning frequently used in folk music, and by metal and alternative-rock bands
• E-a-d-g-c'-f', all fourths tuning removes from the standard tuning the irregularity of the interval of a third between the fourth and fifth strings. The tuning is in fourths like that of the lowest four strings in standard tuning. With regular tunings like this, chords can simply be moved down or across the fretboard, dramatically reducing the number of different finger positions that need to be memorized. The disadvantage of all fourths is that not all major and minor chords can be played with all six strings at once.
• C-G-d-a'-e'-b', all fifths tuning is in fifths like that of a mandolin or a violin and has a remarkably wide range.
• C-G-d-a-e-g, the new standard tuning devised by Robert Fripp of King Crimson, used by most Guitar Craft students around the world. The tuning is like all fifths except the most treble string is dropped down from b' to g.
• D-A-d-g-a-d' frequently used in Celtic music, and by artists such as Pierre Bensusan.

Each of the six strings can be alternately tuned, as low as a whole step lower, to as much as a whole step higher, without stressing the neck, or the strings. With five possible tunings for each string (+2, +1, 0, -1, and -2), there can be as many as 16,575 possible tunings for a six-string guitar, according to Stephen Potts of "GUITAR DNA".

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Note that a standard guitar sounds one octave below pitch as written in standard notation. Therefore, the pitch of the top string in standard tuning actually sounds as a major third above middle C, despite being written as a major tenth above middle C.

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There are also tenor guitars, baritone guitars tuned ADGCEA (or GDGCDG, GDGCEA, GCGCEG, etc.) a fifth lower than a normal guitar, treble guitars tuned a fourth higher than a standard (prime) guitar, and contrabass guitars, which are tuned one octave lower than prime guitars.

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